AKP wants to destroy monument named for PKK marty and German revolutionary Andrea Wolf

Ronahî Martys’ Monument in Van

According to an article in Özgür Gündem AKP provincial council members in Van have ordered the Ronahî Martys’ Monument in the village of Andiçin (Kelahêrê) in the district of Çatak (Şax), opened last Sunday, to be destroyed. The monument, named for Andrea Wolf – who took the name Ronahî when she joined the PKK in 1996 – remembers Wolf and 40 of her companions, all killed in a battle with the Turkish military at the site on October 23, 1998.

The monument was built under the direction of MEYA-DER, a civil society organization founded in 2007 to work with families of those killed fighting for the PKK or murdered by unknown assailants thought to be working with the Turkish state. The BDP has promised to pitch tents at the monument to guard against its destruction. The co-vice President of the BDP in Van, Azim Yacan, claimed that the AKP made the decision without inviting BDP members to the meeting. The decision comes just weeks after Turkish soldiers destroyed a PKK cemetery on Bagok mountain in Nusaybin, an event which lead to protests around Turkey.

Andrea Wolf

The dedication to Wolf on the monument reads:

This gracious one gave her life for the Kurdish people. As long as this people exists they will be grateful.